Shelf Space Weekly: The Lost Sam Raimi Edition

Fred Topel catches you up on the week in Blu-ray news, including a cult classic from the director of The Evil Dead and Oz, The Great and Powerful.

In the Shelf Space Weekly column, we update you on the significant home video announcements so we can all plan ahead on what may deserve space on our DVD/Blu-ray shelves. This week’s announcements saw a forgotten film from a favorite filmmaker, an unexpected double dip, some standard new releases and TV on Blu-ray.

Crimewave – May 14, 2013

If you were a Sam Raimi fan in 1989, you pretty much only had Evil Dead and Evil Dead II to satisfy you. Darkman would be coming next year, but if you were obsessive like me, you needed all the Raimi you could get. And back then, the only thing you could turn to was Crimewave. It didn’t matter if you read in Fangoria that Crimewave wasn’t up to Raimi’s standards. You just needed more.

Now we live in a world where we can also watch Darkman, Army of Darkness, The Quick and the Dead, A Simple Plan, The Gift, Drag Me to Hell, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 (yes, Spider-Man 3, dammit!) So Crimewave need only exist as a curiosity, and on May 14 you can see the forgotten Sam Raimi/Coen Brothers comedy Crimewave. That’s right, the Coen Brothers wrote it with Raimi.

Shout! Factory is putting Crimewave out for the first time on Blu-ray and DVD on May 14, 2013. Special features are to be announced but will surely detail all the reasons Raimi disowns the film. I don’t even know how to describe it at this point, but if you’re now hearing for the first time that there’s a Sam Raimi movie written by Raimi and the Coen brothers that you haven’t seen yet, you’re going to have to see it. I did.

Gamer 3D – May 7, 2013

Here’s something I never expected. On May 7 Lionsgate is putting out Gamer 3D. But, you protest, Gamer was not a 3D movie. Exactly! Now, I actually liked Gamer. I found it a profound commentary on the state of the media, made by people who are part of the problem. It’s got something to say, often completely on the nose, about the evolution of entertainment consumption, and even more to say inadvertently about how movies are being shot and edited.

Neveldine/Taylor direct Gerard Butler as a prisoner whose body becomes an avatar for video gamers to kill each other. The directors’ 3D in Ghost Rider – Spirit of Vengeance wasn’t nauseating, though it wasn’t good either, and that was at least planned for 3D, though post-converted. Converting their least successful movie into 3D seems like a disaster, and I kind of wish I had a 3D TV set to see for myself.

Les Miserables – March 22, 2013

Oscar voters already have their screener copies of the multiple nominee Les Miserables, and the rest of us can own it on March 22 on Blu-ray or DVD, with digital copies and UltraViolet. On Blu-ray, you’ll get to see all the close-ups in perfect HD.

Bonus features include segments on the live singing, the Battle of the Barricade, West End producer Cameron Mackintosh, and cast and crew talking about the filming locations. Bonus features on both Blu-ray and DVD have Tom Hooper talking about casting, production designer Eve Stewart on the Paris set, a documentary on the Victor Hugo novel, and director’s commentary. All sounds very standard and media packaged, but it’ll get the job done.

Star Trek: Enterprise – March 26, 2013

You knew this was coming. After “Star Trek: The Original Series” was remastered on high definition Blu-ray, and they went back to original film negatives to recompose “The Next Generation” for Blu-ray, “Enterprise” is next. Actually, they skipped right over “Voyager” and “Deep Space Nine.” Are there some Trek politics involved there? Anyway, “Enterprise: Season 1” hits March 26.

I personally wish they’d finish all the “TNG” seasons first, but this makes sense for several reasons. 1, They’ll want to cash in on “Enterprise” fans ASAP. 2, “TNG” is a massive undertaking of re-editing episodes frame for frame, mastering them in HD and remaking visual effects shots to match. That takes time, so might as well pump out “Enterprise,” and go for “Deep Space 9” while they’re at it.

The Collection – March 26, 2013

Standard new release announcement: The Collection, the sequel to the horror film The Collector, drops on Blu-ray and DVD March 26, with digital downloads and Ultraviolet too. No mention of bonus features, and The Collector didn’t have any, but you’ll take your movie-only Blu-ray and you’ll like it, mister! I thought the movie was okay, Bibbs liked it a lot, it’s part of a franchise, it was made, it was released and now it’ll be on Blu-ray and DVD.

Come back next Saturday for all the latest home video news, right here at Shelf Space Weekly!